How much coffee is too much coffee? is there a thing as too much coffee? Look - there are several undeniable health benefits linked to daily coffee consumption, and every day its seems scientists gather more hard evidence to strengthen the case.

On average, if you drink the following cups of coffee (black, no milk, no cream, no sugar) per day you'll also benefit from:

35% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes from 6 to 7 cups.

20% lower risk of being hospitalized for arrhythmia or strokes from 1 to 3 cups.

Decreased risk of developing cirrhosis and also liver cancer (stats not available).

65% lower risk of developing dementia and also Alzheimer's disease from 3 to 5 cups.

The evidence is overwhelming, so let's raise our mugs and drink up to the magical fountain of caffeinated youth, right? Right? Well, you just hang on to that thought, because a critical question arises here: Is there such a thing as a caffeine overdose?

​How much coffee is too much coffee? See, there are many factors involved, and this also varies from person to person, but we'll walk you through absolutely all the details.

The Basics of Coffee & Caffeine

It's paramount that you understand that when we refer to coffee, we are talking about regular, black coffee. This means NO milk, or cream, or sugar.

A standard cup of coffee has roughly two calories, approximately 80-100mgs of caffeine, and packs a powerful source of antioxidants that will get you covered for your daily needs whether it's caffeinated or decaf, the benefits are the same.

Caffeine Sensitivity and Caffeine Tolerance.

We all react very differently to the substances we consume, and coffee is no different. This is because our unique genetic makeups and the genes responsible for metabolizing caffeine do it through our livers.​

All existing variations give room to something known as caffeine sensitivity, and there are three large groups:

Hyper-sensitive: People in this group get reactive to small amounts of caffeine, sometimes a cup or less will cause them insomnia, accelerated heart beat, and jitters. Also worthy of note, all of the health benefits mentioned above, are not established as true for people under this category.

Normal:The vast majority of the population lies under this group. They can usually take up to 400mgs of caffeine daily without showing any side effects. All of the studies made about the caffeine benefits are proven right for people with normal sensitivity.​

Hypo-sensitivity: Roughly 1 out of 10 people are born hypo-sensitive to caffeine, which means they can take massive doses (sometimes more than 600mgs per day) and not show any side effect at all. People in this group might not experience the same health benefits from drinking the recommended amount of coffee per day.

After reading the above groups, can you take a guess at which one you fall under?

On the other hand, we have caffeine tolerance, and this happens when your body slowly generates a natural resistance to the effects of caffeine, as opposed to the first time you had it.

Caffeine tolerance can develop in as early as one day, or take up to four. You can also reset your caffeine tolerance level by detoxing your body completely from it — tapering off your consumption for several weeks (1).

However, our bodies have simple detoxing protocols for all foreign substances, and they do it now and then, so you don't have to worry about this.

Simply put, regular coffee drinkers have a higher tolerance for caffeine. So do people with a higher metabolism rate, and women in general when compared to men, unless they are taking contraceptive pills, in which case their tolerance level is up to 33% slower than females who are not on the pill (2).

Caffeine Concentration in Certain Types of Coffee

Remember how we stated earlier that a regular cup of black coffee has roughly 80-100 mgs of caffeine? Well, now that you can consider yourself some sort of coffee guru, how about we go a little deeper?

Let's analyze the amount of caffeine found in the following 8 oz samples, measured consistently over time. After all, plain black coffee can't be everyone's vice:

3-12mgs for decaffeinated.

27-173mgs for instantaneous.

102-200mgs for plain and brewed.

240-720mgs for espresso.

​Notice the limits? Maybe your wondering why the heck there such a broad range in the first place? Well, the caffeine molecule is a natural occurrence in around 60 different types of plants.

The biological evolution of a certain plant, combined with environmental conditions, and even the brewing method used, all play a role in the amount of caffeine a sample will have. Also different types of coffee beans will have different levels of caffeine, such as:

1.13% for Ethiopian.

1.42% for Tanzanian.

1.5% for Arabica.

2.4% for Robusta.

Safe Amounts of Caffeine Intake

Disclaimer - we are coffee fanatics - not doctors. Please consult with a medical professional before going on a wild coffee binge based on the above figures

While it would be almost impossible to set an accurate amount of caffeine that would be safe for absolutely everyone (for all the reasons stated above).

Up to 400 milligrams (mg) of caffeine a day appears to be safe for most healthy adults. That's roughly the amount of caffeine in four cups of brewed coffee, 10 cans of cola or two "energy shot" drinks. - Mayo Clinic (3)

Here is a consensus for most of the general population:

400mgs or less for healthy adults.

300mgs or less for pregnant women.

0mgs for children from 0 to 4 years old.

2.5mgs or less for every kilogram of body weight for children from 4 to 12 years old.

200mgs or less for people who suffer from arrhythmia, hypertension or type 2 diabetes.

The bottom line is: coffee has way more positive effects on our overall health than negative ones. The evidence gathered can't be argued with and if you get yourself the time to analyze exactly how your body reacts to caffeine, and adhere to the safe amounts recommended (about 4 to 5 cups daily for adults), you will be just fine.

Not only that, you will benefit hugely from it, in the long run, because a regular intake of caffeine WILL improve your overall quality of life.

Extra Notes:

Because coffee's boosting effect usually takes about 30 minutes to act, you should take your cup of coffee right before your 26-minute power nap (yes, scientists figured out exactly how much you should nap for optimal results). Try it out, and your energy level will go Beast-Mode to help you out on those never-ending office days. Works best with an espresso, or other highly caffeinated coffee types.

Do you love the smell of freshly made coffee in the morning, but can't finish one cup without feeling jittery? Try lower caffeine types of coffee, like instant (god forbid) or Ethiopian beans.

Time to go to bed but you get a craving for a Cup of Joe? Go decaf. While technically still caffeinated, for a coffee to be considered decaf it must have 97% of its total caffeine removed. Hard to argue with that. And you will still get a good night's sleep.

Next time someone asks "how much coffee is too much?" you'll know exactly what to tell them, without taking a wild guess. For more coffee related goodness, start on our homepage.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many cups of coffee can you drink per day?

It depends on the type of coffee, your health, and your weight. Generally, healthy adults can consume up to 400mg of caffeine daily. So, to determine how many cups of servings of coffee you can drink, you need to know how much a caffeinated beverage contains. For example, a 16-oz. serving of Starbucks cold brew contains 200mg of caffeine (4). This means that a healthy adult can drink as much as 2 servings of this beverage daily. Learn how much caffeine each type of coffee contains here.

What will happen if I consume too much coffee?

If you consumed a lot more caffeine than recommended amount, you may experience unpleasant side effects such as irritability, diminished quality of sleep, and jitteriness. In severe cases, caffeine overdose can cause tummy ache, headache, irregular heartbeat, vomiting, and/or even seizures. Constant consumption of highly-caffeinated drinks may also cause hormonal imbalance (5).

How much coffee can kill you?

The lethal dose of coffee is 150mg per kilogram of your body (6), which means that a 70-kg man can die if he consumes 10,500mg of caffeine or 11 to 15 cups of highly-caffeinated drinks like Death Wish Coffee in a single day! That’s a lot of coffee!

References

Romm, C. (2016, July 28). Here's How to Undo a Caffeine Tolerance. Retrieved from https://www.thecut.com/2016/07/heres-how-to-undo-a-caffeine-tolerance.html

We are obsessed with great coffee - and since you've ended up here, we can only assume that you are too! Our goal is simple - to continue to learn about speciality coffee, develop our home brewing skills, and to share what we learn about it with the you and the rest of the world.

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